


Rainy Days

by xalypso



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-06-03 17:12:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6619267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xalypso/pseuds/xalypso
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil thought that taking Dan into the forest would be a good idea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rainy Days

Rain had turned the narrow path into a stream of mud and skeletal autumn leaves.  
“Are you sure about this?” Dan’s forehead crinkled as he followed his friend deeper into the forest.  
“Yeah, yeah,” Phil called over his shoulder, “It’ll be fun. I mean- what are they gonna do? We only have a few weeks of school left.”  
“Right- they’ll just let Mrs. Corry loose on us with a ruler, and we’ll never make it to year twelve.”  
Phil laughed, a raindrop splashing off his nose. “Yeah, right- she’s practically ancient. She’d probably have a heart attack if she even tried to pick one up.”  
Dan laughed, and then grabbed violently at a tree branch as his foot slipped on the slick mud, pulling himself up again and breathing heavily. “Jeez, Phil, what were you thinking?”  
Up ahead, Phil stopped and turned around, grinning slightly. “Alright?”  
“I’m fine. How much longer until we get there?”  
Phil shrugged, and ran a hand through his messy hair. Tiny droplets of rainwater flew in all directions, and he frowned as he tugged a leaf from his fringe. “I dunno. It can’t be much longer now.”  
“Thank God.” Dan stood with one hand clutching the flimsy sapling, and used the other to coax his tie out from under the shirt’s collar. “I’m not sure how much more I can take.”  
“I’m sure you’ll make it.” Phil beckoned for Dan to follow him and started moving again, stepping carefully on the ridges built between the puddles by the rain, taking care not to step on the thick carpet of dead leaves. A cold wind swept through the bare branches, and he shivered underneath his jacket.  
“C’mon Phil,” Dan protested, “You know we aren’t meant to be here. It’s wet, and cold, and it’s against the rules.”  
Phil turned his head back towards Dan, eyebrow raised. “You- of all people- care about what the rules say? Am I really talking to the same Dan Howell who broke into McArthur’s car and stole his beer for a dare?”  
“People change!” Dan said, jokingly. “You never know- it’s possible that I might’ve reformed and changed my evil ways. After all, I’m the one who’s gonna be performing Shakespeare for the Queen.”  
Phil sighed. “We both know you aren’t actually performing for the Queen. There’s only the slightest of chances that she’ll even hear about the play.”  
“You’re coming, though, so why don’t you be the Queen?” Dan’s face lit up with an impish grin.  
“It’s a youth production of Hamlet, Dan, there won’t be any sort of royalty attending. You won’t even get one measly Kate Middleton. And that royalty includes me- before you say anything.”  
“So what are you, then?” teased Dan, “No royalty? But you’re still a massive idiot- a royal fool, even. Phil Jester- how does that sound?”  
“You’re an ass.”  
“That’s the best insult you’ve got?”  
“Apparently.”  
Phil came to a sudden stop by a lofty sycamore, majestic even with its bark blackened by storms and its branches almost empty of leaves. The few which remained were withered and grey.  
The tree towered far above both boys, and Dan craned his head upwards, but its top was clouded by the grey mist that had descended on the forest. A damp chill hung in the air as Phil parted the vines that hung before them and stepped forward.  
Dan exhaled quietly, careful not to disturb the denizens of the forest, as he was sure that some kind of mythological woodland spirit would be lurking behind every bend.  
The clearing they’d entered was large, with ancient oaks circling patches of faded light which had somehow made it past the fog that had clouded the rest of their journey. Water droplets glistened as they hung off spiderwebs, draped over the mossy boughs.  
“Dan! C'mon!” Phil’s voice was farther away than he’d expected, and Dan snapped out of his trance.  
“I’m coming!”  
Carefully, Dan stepped over fallen branches and skirted around the hollow logs which had collapsed onto the forest floor, dead leaves piling up around them. A bird perched above him in the canopy, singing sweetly, and mushrooms and fungi bloomed on the rotten wood. Wet sticks broke underfoot, coated with clinging leaves.  
Finally, he caught up to Phil, and came to a stop.  
Dan opened his mouth to say something, but Phil held a finger to his own lips- a warning.  
“We’re here,” he whispered, “This is it. And I don’t think anyone knows about this but us. Maybe I’ll tell someone- someday, when we’re gone- but for today, it’s ours.”  
Dan nodded solemnly. Now that they were there, the excitement was almost too much to bear, and his hands trembled where they were hidden in his blazer sleeves.  
Through the archway of elms, a stone stairway set atop mossy cobblestone arches emerged from beyond the mess of branches. Somehow seeming to defy the customary laws of gravity, it twisted upward, spiralling into nowhere. Leaves fluttered down to settle atop the timeworn walkway as a gentle breeze shivered through the trees, and Phil stepped lightly onto the lowest stair. “Come on up!”  
Hesitantly, Dan followed. The staircase curved upwards- 22 steps- and was easily wide enough for him and Phil to climb up together.  
On the last stair, wider than the others, Phil stopped, and gently brushed the leaves away. They drifted down to the forest floor, tumbling over and over.  
“Go on, sit down!” Phil invited Dan to join him on his perch. Dan’s legs dangled easily over the floor that seemed far below, and Phil scooted back onto the ledge to tuck his legs underneath him.  
“This is just something else, honestly. How on earth did you even find this?“ Dan asked, awestruck.  
Phil shrugged again, the familiar grin on his face. "If I have to be royalty, I at least need a secluded woodland palace.”  
“This isn’t half palace you deserve! You need something like one of those Bavarian castles, with the turrets and the battlements, and engraved suits of armour with the fancy plumes on their helmets, standing at the bottom of every staircase, and probably a butler-” Dan cut himself off, and shook his head. “I mean, if you even were royalty in the first place. Phil Jester.”  
“Daaan,” Phil groaned, “Really? And besides, because I’m royalty, you’d obviously be the butler.”  
“Fine,” he said, “But seriously, come on. How did you find it? It’s absolutely incredible.”  
Phil shifted a little, swinging his foot out and over the edge of the stair. “I dunno. I was skipping maths that one day- y'know, a couple of weeks ago- so I figured I might as well explore. We only have a year left here, so I’d like to know where I am, and I guess I just sort of stumbled across this.”  
Dan smiled in appreciation. "I’m not sure whether or not to be annoyed- I mean, skipping maths without me and leaving me and Chris to face Corry and her ruler alone?”  
“I need time off, Dan, to recharge or whatever. People are stressful. I guess it’s all kind of a metaphor- I was following the path, but life is so much more interesting when you don’t mindlessly trudge down the path everyone’s taken before you, and that means just one person can find something revolutionary and change the world.”  
“That’s deep.” Dan looked at Phil with wide eyes, impressed and melancholy. “You’re right, though- if we all followed others, there wouldn’t be any diversity or any inventions or beauty or any creativity in the world. And without that, without art, we’d have nothing.“  
Phil sighed in reply, tilting his head sideways and letting it fall into Dan’s shoulder. The drizzle had stopped, and rain gave way to dappled sunlight which caught on the cobwebs, shimmering like lace.  
“You know what work of art is more beautiful and incredible than anything in this forest?” Phil’s voice was low and quiet, and Dan gently ran his fingers through Phil’s hair, teasing out the autumn leaves which wreathed his head like a crown.  
“What?”  
Phil turned his head slightly, and looked up into Dan’s eyes as a smile spread slowly across his face. “There’s nothing more perfect than you.”


End file.
